Attracting wildlife to a pond in desert city

Feb 15, 2022 22:50:58

Hello, I live in typical Southwestern United States high desert city, where we have about 10 inches of precipitation per year. I'm constructing a small pond in the backyard in a stock tank to hold rainwater and get occasional visits from some ducks of mine (they have their own pond, this is mostly for wildlife and growing cattails and other useful aquatic plants).
My question is- for others that live in similar circumstances (far away from any natural water source, high walls around the backyard, etc) have you had success attracting aquatic life? I am hoping to provide a spot for dragonflies, amphibians, etc but I think it might be unlikely that these critters will find their way out here. I plan to just let things play out and watch things happen, but I'm interested in anybody's experience.

Feb 15, 2022 23:06:05

Probably not the answers you are hoping for but here in the high desert of southern Utah the yellowjacket wasps made regular round trips to the duck pond the fish pond and the swimming pool. They don't bother us and it is usually one at a time, and the ducks enjoy the snack when they can catch them. I don't understand why they fly past several other backyard ponds to get to ours, we can see them fly away for several hundred yards and I know there are other ponds between my place and their home. Occasionally honey bees will stop by for a drink. Sometimes we find a mouse in the bottom of the pond, they jump in but can't get out. There are no natural type water sources within about 3/4 of a mile so no frog type creatures have found our water supplies.

I do keep guppies in a 100 gallon water trough that is inside a small greenhouse, but in the colder months it has a heater and in the very cold months I cover it with plastic at night to hold in the heat. Guppies are very hardy and bread rapidly giving us fresh treats for the chickens and ducks to chase when we toss the extra into their pool, feeder goldfish are a good option and very cheap to buy and are capable of reproducing if the conditions are right. If you want frogs you can try to use a net at a local pond and catch some tadpoles.

Feb 16, 2022 00:44:42

Michael Fundaro wrote: If you want frogs you can try to use a net at a local pond and catch some tadpoles.

Sorry for the spoil-sport, but as an environmentalist I oppose that plan.
Firstly because many amphibes are bound to their birth pond and will try to wander back to their native area once they are grown (and probably won't make it).
And probably you also have laws that protect local wildlife, i.e. no hunting, harming and taking out from their environment.

If the pond is apt for amphibes, they might come on their own. Some species can wander for miles. It might take years so patience is crucial.
If the pond is really too far from natural occurrences just try to be happy with the benefit it has for insects (for drinking or breeding like dragonflies) or that it serves other critters as water supply (which you might not see if they are nocturnals).

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